Hives (medically known as urticaria) are red, itchy, raised areas of skin that appear in varying shapes and sizes. Hives can occur anywhere on the body, such as the trunk, arms, and legs.It is estimated that 5% of all people will develop urticaria at some point in their lives. Individual hives usually last two to 24 hours. An outbreak that looks impressive, even alarming, first thing in the morning can be completely gone by noon, only to be back in full force later in the day.
Hives are produced by histamine and other compounds released from cells called mast cells, which are a normal part of skin. Histamine causes fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading to swelling in the skin. Hives are very common. Although they can be annoying, they usually resolve on their own over a period of weeks, and are rarely medically serious. Some hives are caused by allergies to such things as foods, medications, and insect stings, but the large majority of cases are not allergic, and no specific cause for them is ever found.
As there isn't much that the doc can do, she can only prescribe some anti-itch medication. We were also advised to apply calamine lotion to ease the itch.When we reached home, we covered M with calamine lotion from head to toe as the hives patches were all over. It was quite a funny sight. Even M was amused as he said that he is painting himself white!
